Aurora Colorado, A Nation Mourns

Just when we think we've heard it all;

when tragedies strike in places and the unthinkable happens and innocent lives are lost without meaning or reason.

A theater in a community near Denver, known as

Aurora in Colorado

where people went for a good time, to be entertained and to see the excitement of the newest Batman premier of

"The Dark Knight Rises"

...

The unthinkable, the unimagined

happened, at the hands of one person;

killing 12, wounding 50
that means 70
where many continue to fight for their lives right now in hospitals there;

and traumatizing a community

a Nation that now has to wonder as we mourn for all; in a state that has been devastated by fire; lives destroyed and upheaval leaving behind ashes and weariness and post traumatic stress and equilibrium's that are bent yet not broken.

People will rise from the ashes.

But this?

A theater where people went to view BATMAN

"The Dark Knight Rises"

and eat popcorn and just relax and be entertained.

And from the exit in front of the theater a man clad in black wearing a bullet proof vest, throws tear gas into the crowd and opens fire.

He was on a bloody intended spree and thankfully one of those guns jammed only to be thrown down and another grabbed to continue.

Bullets are going through walls hitting people in the next room who are also watching a movie, minding their own business out for an evening to get away from it all.

And in those moments; those minutes,

the terror, the last seconds of life, the panic and the horror of blood splattering, people in movement trying desperately to get out of the line of fire and out of harms way.

And the film continued to roll.

The shooter left the building, retreating to his car; and the responders answered the calls that were coming in by the hundreds from the survivors the victims, the ones who were able.

The devastation in a community near Denver CO., in a movie theater; 

can you even imagine?

One person, one 24 year old young man, made a choice to walk into that theater and to open fire on innocent people and take their very precious lives.

Just like that.

12 so far DEAD

50 WOUNDED

A community traumatized

A nation now with vicarious trauma.
The TV was flooded last night with specials, with live updates, with showing bomb squads at the apartment, with this shooters photo on the screen, with an interview of a mother who has a famous daughter who escaped Toronto's tragedy.
Interviews, tears, trauma, tragedy.
The shooter's Dad seen leaving his home in San Diego with a duffel bag under police escort to travel to his son; who now has nothing to say of his horrendous crimes against the innocent in a movie theater.
...
I'm sure Dr Drew will weigh in soon
on the whole matter.

Many asking and wanting to know why wasn't someone carrying a concealed weapon in that theater and why didn't they do something.
Many screaming saying it ridiculous that the theater says NO WEAPONS on a sign there.

It is so easy for those questions to come forward;

but who knows that someone was not carrying a legal/illegal concealed weapon on that night and wasn't one of the victims?

Who knows if someone wasn't carrying a concealed weapon but in the terror of the moment did not think to even realize that they may have been able to do something to help or to try?

Who in the world in their right mind would dare to stand in judgment of what those many people went through in that moment of impending death and disaster?
The reels and the live interviews continue
and they are so very sad and horrific to bear witness to;
can you imagine the trauma that each individual and first responder there
are experiencing and those who are in the hospitals now fighting for their lives.
 

It was and has been reported in interviews with survivors that they thought this man was a part of the show that night; perhaps a stage prop even from the movie character as he entered the theater clad in black carrying a gun.

...

Stranger things have happened as we ramp up the technology and interface and interaction of entertainment on the big screen.

People reported thinking that this man was a part of the "special effects" when he appeared, some even thinking that when the gunfire erupted it coincided with the gunfight of the movie, yet in seconds it became quite real and terror set in as he fired off round after round.

the face of a killer

with what appears to be a smirk on his face

and was in possession of quite an arsenal.

One person,

James Holmes

has instilled fear into our Nation once again, as security will be ramped up in theaters, at malls, at places where people go to get away from the harsh realities of life this weekend; even here in Tampa and places like NY for the movies and times to have enjoyment.
...

One person makes a difference in the lives of others; whether their behavior is an isolated event, or if they are a part of something bigger; be it good or horrid.

this person had on his possession enough weapon power to maim, kill, wound many;

including a gas mask, four weapons: two handguns, made by Glock, a Remington 870 single-barrel shotgun and a Smith and Wesson AR-15 assault-style rifle. The weapons can accommodate large ammunition clips, and who knows what else they have since discovered about Holmes who is in custody.

May Justice be as swift as his actions. 

Mass chaos that he carried out on his own;

that he made a choice to walk through the door and throw tear gas into a room and then unload a weapon with what sure sounds like intent to kill.

People slipped on blood, tried to get lifeless bodies to move; saw and stepped over children on their hurried escape out the doors; they heard sounds and horror in ways that people should never have to be exposed to in their lifetimes in civil communities and on our soils.

This was the worse massacre since the

VA Tech shootings in 2007

and our hearts are wrapping around the families the community

and our Nation.

President Obama sent a message out yesterday and he said it well, "Leave politics alone today and concentrate on the tragedy and those hurting in Aurora"... and he also took the time to let all know that we must stand together, that he is wanting all there and in our Nation to know that his thoughts and prayers are with them.  We have historically been at our best in the worst of times.. (why can't be sustain it has always and will always be my question).

We stand still in wonder of this tragedy;

with prayers and thoughts surrounding each other we will rise from such profound sorrow,

we will rise like the Phoenix from the ashes.

I know that we will

with hope in healing

and those who are being called to stand for those who now are in trauma.

...

DRSES

My heart is bending with the sadness of this National massacre and those in Aurora Colorado.
Prayers going UP